An angel's twin
by Ritz the freak
Summary: Collins learns that Angel has family, but who?


An Angel's twin

By: Ritz The freak

Collins looked down at the coffin that held his lover with tears in his eyes. If only he could join Angel, his little Angel. He only had himself now. Just like it was before. The others didn't understand. Nobody did. He sniffled and got up to leave.

"Excuse me." A vocie called. He looked up to see a young man Angel's age stood near him. His baggy clothes, guitar case on his back, and messed up hair was no attire for a funeral but it hardly mattered. Collins swallowed his tears.

"Yes?" He asked. The young man's tear-stained face expressed concern for Collins. "Is this Angel Schunard's funeral?" He asked in a shaky vocie. Collins nodded. He wanted to scream, hit, or punch the young man. He had no idea about the feeling of losing someone. Why should he be here? Collins looked over at the young man to see him sobbing into his hand. Feminine hands, like Angel's. Roger and Mark were sitting there, watching the man.

"Did you know her?" Mark asked. The young man looked up at him, looking more like a woman. "Yes, I'm his twin sister, Ray." She said. Collins was surprised Angel had a twin but nodded and let her pass. Ray nodded and went to her brother's coffin. She took a single red rose from her trench coat and put it on the coffin. She bowed her head in prayer and mummered something only Collins could hear, "Brother, I was supposed to be the first to go. I love you bro and I hope you find what you were looking for." She whispered. She got up and stared at the odd group of people.

"Um, Hi." She said, feeling very akward. She got down and went to leave. Collins grabbed her arm. "Need a place to stay for the night?" He asked. Ray nodded. "Yea, kinda." She said. Collins looked back at the coffin. _'Angel, why didn't you say anything about your family?' _He thought giving his lover one last look before he went in the cold grave. Ray stared at her brother.

They left after Ray got her backpack from the bushes. They walked to Collins small apartment in silence. They were both thinking about the body they left at the graveyard, the one they both loved. The one taken from them. Ray looked up at Collins. "You and Angel...you were...lovers?" She asked Collins nodded. Ray smiled a little at him. "She was happy with you. I can tell."

They went to the apartment. It was three small rooms and a kiciten and bathroom. Ray put her bag down and looked at the paintings Angel had painted. One was the most depressing one she ever painted. It was of a dark lake, the murky water had distorted shadows in the lake. Ray pointed to it. "That was the lake we grew up near. Thats what it looked like at night." Ray said, with tears in her eyes. "I haven't seen it since we were little." Collins nodded and went to make coffee for his guest.

Ray sat down at the shagging couch and took in the place. It was small and comfortable. She leaned into the couch. 'This is where my brother lived.' Ray thought, picking invisible lint off her coat. Collins came back with coffee for both of them. Ray took it and thanked him. It was the first thing she would eat that day. Collins watched the woman drink the coffee for a few mintues before asking, "How was it?" Ray finished and set the mug down. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"How was your childhood? More like Angels. Did you two have parents who loved you?" He asked. Ray ran a hand though her shaggy black hair and sighed.

"Yeah. We lived here. Our mother raised us after our father died when we were five. Laugh I'm not really sure what to say. Angel and I were normal kids. But we of course felt diffrent. Angel felt like a girl and I felt like a boy. We were born in the wrong bodies I guess. Angel was five mintues older than me so he was my big brother. When we got older, I would go to sleepovers and teach to put on makeup. He would tell me about sports. Our mother loved us, but when we told her about wanting to be a diffrent gender, she shunned us. She didn't know how to respond to her only children wanting to both be transgenders.

"So when we turned 18, we both left home and moved into a small apertment with my girlfriend at the time. That was a good part of my life. We went to night school while working two jobs but we were happy. Then something happened and I left. I went to Santa fe. I live there, working as a writer for a newspaper. When I found out about Angel, I hitchhiked here."

Ray sighed. "Anything else?" She asked. Collins stared down at his coffee. "Yes, a few things. But first, do you know how Angel got, well, you know?" He asked Ray took a deep breath.

"You dropped the bomb there. Well here it is. We were walking back from school. We always took a shortcut to avoid our stupid neighbors dog. We went into one alley. There was a gang, hanging out there. They took an interset in us. They all thought Angel was my girlfriend and wanted a little booty call. We tried not to listen and just leave. But they caught us. I remember after that waking up feeling so sore and being naked from the wasit down. I got up and saw Angel like me. I limped to him and picked him up. We got home and our mother was almost having a heart attack when she saw us. She cleaned us both up and held us both in her arms as we both cried.

"Two years later, we both got tested for HIV because Angel was feeling sick and none of the doctors knew what was going on. We figured it was from them. A week later we found out, we both had it. The doctors said I would be affected more because of the fact it was vaginal. But when I found out Angel died-"

She couldn't finish. She burst into tears as Collins sat there listening. He had tears in his eyes. "Its okay. Hes in a better place now." He said. Ray tried to pull herself together. "Anything else?" She sobbed. Collins shook his head. "Our mother is still alive, I think. I haven't seen her in ten years." Ray said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "You okay with sleeping here?" Collins asked. Ray nodded. "Thanks." She said as Collins got out some blankets he had.

"Hey, was Angel happy here?" Ray asked. Collins nodded. "I'm sure he was." He said. Ray smiled. "Good, I'm glad my big brother was happy with his life." She said. Collins left and went to the room he once stared with Angel. He picked up a picture of him and Angel at the park. Angel had been feeding him ice cream as Collins ws trying to take the picture. Angel's mouth had been open, laughing. "Angel, I miss you so much." Collins said, crying. He heard muffled whimpers. Ray was crying too. He cried himself to sleep that night.

The next morning Collins woke up to something cooking. He thought at first this all was a dream. Angel was alive and cooking breakfest as she did sometimes. He went to the kicten to see Ray frying some eggs. His heart sank. It wasn't a dream. Ray looked back at him. "Want some?" She asked. Collins nodded. "Sure. what the hell?" He said, letting Ray hand him some.

They ate in silence until Ray said something. "I'm going to visit my mother then leave. That okay with you?" She asked. Collins nodded. "Can I come with you?" He asked. Ray nodded. "Sure, mom will love to see you." She said.

Ray and Angel's mother was recorded dead. She had a heart attack the weeek before. Ray left back to her home.

Three years later...

Collins recieved a letter from Ray's partner, Mandy that Ray commited suicide.

A/N: COME ON PEOPLE! Angel has to have some family!


End file.
